


Thin Soles

by 126916912



Series: Deleted VeggieSamosa Works [6]
Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Ambiguous Friendship, Bad date, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-27 13:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30123450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/126916912/pseuds/126916912
Summary: Jaehyun has a bad date (loses his shoes bad) and Sangyeon appears specifically to make fun of him or something
Relationships: Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Lee Sangyeon
Series: Deleted VeggieSamosa Works [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216148
Kudos: 2





	Thin Soles

"Aha!" 

Unfortunately for Jaehyun, in that moment he knows the exclamation isn't to alert passers-by to the presence of Norwegian pop superstars. Not that Jaehyun would be able to do anything other than hobble in the opposite direction if there were any celebrities around. Worse than any other possibility is the person who Jaehyun recognises too easily as he approaches, strolling leisurely with his hands in his pockets. 

Jaehyun is fairly athletic and until now he hasn't shied away from running, be it to catch public transport or ambush friends, but every day until now Jaehyun has worn shoes that he has picked out with care. Jaehyun likes shoes that support his feet and also look suited to stepping over ugly unfortunates who wouldn't know an Oxford from a Derby. 

Today's shoes had been a gorgeous pair of Chelsea boots, matte black suede uppers with rounded toes. They had given Jaehyun that extra boost of confidence to walk with purpose. It is just a shame that Jaehyun's date for the evening had wanted to go ice skating - and perhaps even that wouldn't have been such a tragedy had the attendants at the skating kiosk not lost his shoes. So the shoes on Jaehyun's feet are not the Chelsea boots he has only worn thrice before now. Oh no! Instead, Jaehyun had to jam his feet into some unsettlingly moist moccasins a size or two down from Jaehyun's usual which he assumes must have been abandoned eons ago at the ice rink. 

Jaehyun should really rethink every interaction he has ever had seeing as something he has done in the past indicated that Sangyeon could approach him with this triumphant grin on his face. Sangyeon doesn't have the right to look at anybody like that, not when he dresses like a teenager from the late 1990's who recently bought their first Tony Hawk PlayStation game. 

"What are the chances of seeing you here?" Sangyeon poses, still with that awful smile. 

"Low," Jaehyun replies through gritted teeth. 

"And yet, here we are," Sangyeon points out. "Are you coming or going?" 

"Going," Jaehyun says, breathing through the pain of both this interaction and the pebbles underfoot biting through the soles of these reject shoes. "I am on my way home after a date."

Sangyeon’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead and he even says, "I take it the date didn't go well. You're going home alone, after all."

In all honesty Sangyeon is correct. The date didn't go well because his date couldn't move thirty centimetres across the ice without wiping out and they both had to give up and cling to the barrier at the edge while Jaehyun was forced to listen to the very intricate politics of an office he has no interest in. But he can't let Sangyeon know that. He needs to pretend the date went well and he wasn't mired in further regret with the loss of his shoes. 

"It went great. Can't wait for the next one. I just didn't want to overwhelm anyone with how perfect and amazing I am."

Sangyeon nods and shoves his hands deeper into the pockets of his oversized hoodie. Then his gaze hones in on Jaehyun's footwear and he finally says the thing he has been leading up to since the beginning of this encounter. "Those are interesting."

"Please stop looking at my feet. You know these aren't my shoes," Jaehyun pleads. So much for playing this off as being yet another day of being cool and attractive with a great sense of style.

"I was wondering," Sangyeon says, "You know. After that time you said you would never go on a date with me because I had bad taste in shoes. And then I see you wearing those things."

Even tonight Sangyeon is proving just how bad his taste in shoes is. He is wearing a pair of white trainers which Jaehyun specifically remembers from one of Sangyeon’s Snapchat stories with the caption _"Love me a pair of bright white creps 😍😍😍"._ The soles of the trainers are at least two inches thick and the generically chunky shape is stitched in a way to give the illusion that the wearer is 5cm taller even without the shoes. Jaehyun gets it, because even he, as gracefully tall as he is, owns a couple of pairs of shoes with Cuban heels. What Jaehyun doesn't understand is why anyone would want to wear any sort of shoe at all which is adorned with dozens of assorted plastic white chains. 

"This doesn't make us the same," Jaehyun says. "You made a choice to wear those. The attendants at the ice rink lost my actual shoes and all they had left were these things."

"Is that what happened?" Sangyeon mutters. He even crouches to get a closer look. And then he prods the moulting suedette upper. "These are hideous."

"I already know that. As soon as I get home I am going to burn these and my socks and then bleach the top five layers of skin off my feet."

Sangyeon grins up at Jaehyun. "If they're so bad why don't you just take them off now? They're not even your size. Aren't you the one always lecturing everyone about the damage caused by wearing improperly fitting shoes?" 

"My choices right now are to walk on the pavement without any shoes on or to endure these monstrosities until I get home. Which one sounds more sensible to you?" 

Sangyeon gets up, supports himself on Jaehyun's leg to help him to stand without even asking for permission, and smiles. "There's a third option too. I can piggyback you home."

"That's not an option," Jaehyun says flatly. Wearing ugly, mysteriously squelchy, small shoes is awful and Jaehyun was already planning his shoe disposal to keep his spirits up on the way home. He thought he was being smart not driving so he could have a drink with dinner but he had to end the date well before that was a possibility due to his shoe trouble. So now he is battling the realisation that home is a long way away in grotesque shoes which are constricting blood flow to his feet. Even though Jaehyun doesn't want to consider that ridiculous third option, Sangyeon insists and he even cheers when Jaehyun dumps the moccasins into a litterbin. 

Sangyeon gives Jaehyun a piggyback. He tries to make a show of being strong and pretending that he isn't about to keel over beneath Jaehyun's weight but Jaehyun doesn't care. Sangyeon offered and wouldn't take no for an answer so he can learn that his actions have consequences. 

"You were lying, right?" Sangyeon asks, straining not to wheeze. "You're not going on a second date with whoever you saw today."

Jaehyun doesn't say anything for a moment. It is no skin off his nose. He is one of the beautiful and desirable people of the world so a failed date isn't something to lose sleep over. But losing his shoes has burned him. 

"If I never see that guy again it will be too soon." That came out with much more vehemence than Jaehyun intended. Sangyeon at least has the decency to not laugh. Or he is incapable of laughing because he overestimated his own abilities. Jaehyun doesn't care either way. 

"What happened?"

"Shoes are expensive. They were a great pair of shoes and I was annoyed that they were basically stolen from me."

"Understandable."

"If I make the effort to dress up and come on a date with you, don't tell me I am being a bitch about the fact I was robbed."

"That's what happened?" Sangyeon splutters. It takes him a minute to recover and he pats one of the hands Jaehyun has linked over his chest in what is supposed to be a reassuring manner. Jaehyun feels appropriately reassured. "Calling you a bitch is at least a third date thing."

Jaehyun is annoyed but he can't stop himself from laughing into the back of Sangyeon’s neck. But he is also ready to fight Sangyeon if need be. Apparently it was a good thing he was so prepared to fight because Jaehyun immediately needs to fight him. 

"Where are you going?" Jaehyun asks when Sangyeon’s path deviates from the laboured stagger along the pavement. 

"I need to sit down."

"Just sit down in the street or something," Jaehyun says, tightening his grip around Sangyeon’s neck. This does not have the desired effect of securing his position and instead Sangyeon drops him. "Why would you do this?" 

"You're heav—" Sangyeon cuts himself off and swallows back the end of the words Jaehyun can already predict. He smiles and says, "I'm tired. I'm old and weak so we should stop to rest. I'm paying."

If Sangyeon hadn't said the last two words Jaehyun would have delivered the punch that was deserved. As things stand, Jaehyun is a forgiving man who deserves someone to buy him something from (he squints his eyes to peer through the guff of condensation fogging up the windows to work out where Sangyeon has brought them) a restaurant where the tables are only knee high. 

Jaehyun is allowed another piggyback from where he was unceremoniously dropped to the table they get in the middle of the restaurant, a while away from both the toilets and the kitchen. 

Sangyeon at least waits until they have ordered and handed their menus to the waitress before saying, "So you'll go on a date with someone who calls you a bitch on the first date when you have a valid grievance but what was so wrong with me?" 

"Are you actually asking me?" 

Sangyeon nods from across the table. "Yeah. We used to be able to have a laugh but recently you've been really off with me. Is the thought of going on a date with me that bad? Couldn't you just say no and go back to how things were before?" 

Jaehyun wouldn't dream of asking a question like this unless he could gain something from the answer. If he gains the satisfaction of making someone else uncomfortable everything is useful. But Sangyeon isn't Jaehyun and he said he is really asking this question. 

"Alright," Jaehyun says. "Before I tell you everything, answer this: you don't care what anybody thinks of you, do you?"

Sangyeon smiles but there are shallows of uncertainty around his eyes. He shrugs his shoulders but it does nothing to shake off the stiffness in his face. He asks, "What do you mean? I care what some people think."

"You obviously don't need to try very hard and people are still interested," Jaehyun points out. "You wear clothes like that to prove a point because you're one of those guys who doesn't need to make an effort. Plus the fact that you kept asking after the first rejection is annoying."

Sangyeon leans forward and folds his arms on the tabletop. "I care what some people think. I care what you think."

"Yet you wear shoes that were never designed for a human to actually wear."

"You're not even wearing any shoes," Sangyeon points out. "Don't try to bring this around to that when I am the only one of us with appropriate footwear. Just be honest with me over this. Please."

The 'please' is a nice touch and just hearing it wilts some of the barbs on Jaehyun's tongue. But he's not going to be honest. He's not totally there yet so he will say the things he usually allows himself to say. 

"I'd expect you to change right from the first date. You're okay like this but you're a friend, somehow. If we went on a date you'd have to wear people clothes and not dress like you're auditioning for eboys gone wild."

Sangyeon chuckles quietly but it looks like his heart isn't totally in it. "So you're sticking with the way I dress?" 

"That's good enough for me," Jaehyun says. "You don't peel an onion from the inside. You remove layers from the outside and if it turns out to be bad you throw the whole thing away."

Sangyeon’s laugh is more genuine this time and his eyes soften across the way. "Are you calling me an onion?"

"Of course. You've bored enough people to tears that you should have realised it yourself." Jaehyun says it because he expects Sangyeon to rise to it, come up with a worse sort of foodstuff as a comparison, but the retort doesn't come. This isn't the time to get into all the ins and outs of why Jaehyun can't date Sangyeon. It makes a lot more sense to try out people he doesn't know so well, people who are usually desperate to impress him until they try to ensnare him with negging or anything else patented by a pick-up artist. 

Jaehyun knows himself and he knows what he likes. He also knows that a lot of people can't have him. Being unattainable like this suits him even better than the midnight black Derby Doc Martens which can take him from casual to smart casual. At least those weren't the shoes stolen from him, he thinks to himself whilst Sangyeon grapples with the ability to talk. He shouldn't have put up so much of a fight though, Jaehyun thinks when he hears what Sangyeon comes out with. 

"If we went on a date—" 

"You're not done yet?" 

"—hypothetically. We won't really have to, don't worry. What would you have me wear?" 

It is all too easy of a question. 

"Tanned leather brogues. Oxfords so the stitching doesn't disrupt the look of the shoe and make your feet look even smaller than they already do. You'd never go back to your usuals."

Sangyeon frowns across the table at Jaehyun. He asks, "Why have you put so much thought into this?" 

"You have such horrible taste that I imagine everyone has their ideas of how to improve you."

"Ouch. And here was me planning to tell you you're perfect and wouldn't need to change a thing."

Jaehyun scoffs. "Of course I wouldn't need to change a thing. I really am perfect."

Sangyeon whines, a bit pathetically if Jaehyun is honest. "How can you be sure I'm not just saying you're perfect because I like you? I already like you as you are, that's why you wouldn't have to change anything."

Jaehyun is starting to lose track of what Sangyeon is saying. It must simply be the result of listening too hard to a babbling fool. Their drinks arrive and Jaehyun is glad of his after the day he has had. The drinks don't make up for the shoes of course. 

"I wish I could go back in time and undo my date," Jaehyun says on the back of the first sip. "Then I really would be perfect. Nobody could waste my time and I would even have my shoes back."

Sangyeon laughs like the bastard he is. 

"This is another thing I would change about you," Jaehyun points out. He doesn't get anything barbed in return. Just the warmth of a barely-there smile. 

"Go ahead," Sangyeon says. "Change it. Change everything about me."

The problem is Sangyeon sounds way too eager about that suggestion. 

"I wouldn't change everything," Jaehyun says. "You're okay. I am glad that the younger kids have someone like you around. But obviously they all like me better than you."

Sangyeon holds his index finger bare millimeters from the thumb as he exaggerates a wince. "You were that close to saying something nice about me." 

"You don't want me to say anything nice about you." Jaehyun says it because he knows it is true. The vindication feels too typical when Sangyeon agrees with a nod of his head and a bashful smile. 

Not that he'd make it public knowledge, but Jaehyun gets it. Usually Sangyeon isn't half as nice as this and all the compliments he has dished out so far should have been accompanied by the reflux of an acerbic addendum.

Part of Jaehyun feels bad for missing the backhanded way of their usual conversations but he reminds himself that there isn't just familiarity that he misses. The absence of venom is the absence of a reason to be wary, an absence of the deterrent to thoughts which bear too close to 'what if's. 

Jaehyun watches the way Sangyeon smiles into his drink and wonders what it will take to end this, make one of them think up an insult that is distracting enough. But Sangyeon is slipping into something sentimental and glances up at Jaehyun over the rim of his glass. 

"You never asked me what I was doing out this evening," Sangyeon says, like he thinks he is voicing a relevant thought. "It's almost like someone with a head as fat as yours doesn't care what I do with my time."

"I don't," Jaehyun says, but it is a lie so he adds, "What were you doing out?" 

"I was on my way home after a date," Sangyeon says. He's smiling but Jaehyun doesn't think he means it. Sangyeon doesn't mean a lot of things, just like that fat head comment, but Jaehyun is used to dishonesty so can't hold it against him. 

"You were on your way home alone so the date must have been disastrously bad," Jaehyun says. Truthfully he doesn't know about Sangyeon’s views on date etiquette and casual sex. He has never asked and it isn't information that would ever be relevant to him. But he can infer enough to wryly volley one of Sangyeon’s comments back at him. "I know you have low standards. What on earth could have happened for you to rule out sleeping with a total stranger?" 

Sangyeon sighs, hiccups into his drink, and improvises himself into an intentional bout of choking. He wipes his nose on the back of his wrist and hesitates around the seconds before offering his explanation, defeated. "Apparently I talk about the kids too much."

"Our kids?" Jaehyun asks. Sangyeon nods and Jaehyun needs a moment to collect himself. He can't think what sort of person would cite that as an excuse as he has seen how easily Sangyeon can maintain a conversation with total strangers for the sake of bragging about the kids. There is no reason why anyone should be warded off by something like that. "I am glad you're smart enough not to sleep with someone who hates our kids."

"Exactly," Sangyeon laughs. He sighs and his shoulders slope as he rests his chin on his hands. "They're amazing. Even I wouldn't sleep with someone who hates my kids." 

There is something wistful about the way Sangyeon is looking across the table and Jaehyun wishes he couldn't even infer that much from a glossy gaze. Jaehyun can see too much in Sangyeon’s eyes. He can always see how fond Sangyeon is of the kids. He can always see when there is something on Sangyeon’s mind. He can see how focused Sangyeon gets in relationships. 

Jaehyun looks away. At least like this he can't see the things he already knows. 

"Have you ever introduced anyone to the kids?" Jaehyun asks. 

"Yeah," Sangyeon says. "They didn't really get it though. Or Eric didn't. He thought it was cool to meet my fun new friend. Sunwoo and Hyunjun weren't happy with me. Afterwards they told me they didn't want to meet anyone I was sleeping with." 

"So you can't go out with anyone who hates your kids because that is just wrong, and then you can't go out with someone who likes the kids because they don't want to know them," Jaehyun surmises. He shrugs because this isn't his problem. "You'll have to give up on romance forever."

"Yeah," Sangyeon says. "Maybe."

Jaehyun wants to go home and pretend not to have had such a terrible date and pretend not to have met Sangyeon at all. Ever. 

The food isn't good enough to make Jaehyun change his mind so he stays quiet while Sangyeon attempts to chat blithely about his observations of the restaurant and brings up things he has just remembered as they eat. Jaehyun wants to be a world away from here. 

"You're quiet," Sangyeon says. He has either run out of things to say or reached the end of his patience. Maybe Jaehyun should be nicer seeing as Sangyeon said he was paying but he isn't sure anything would have made this meal comfortable. Not when Jaehyun knows too much about both of them. 

"We shouldn't do this again," Jaehyun says. 

Sangyeon hesitates around his question. Even though he is nodding, agreeing, he asks, "Why?" 

Jaehyun reasons that if he is aware of the answer Sangyeon should be too. So he doesn't say anything obvious about whatever feelings are clotting the air between them right now. Just the sort of obvious thing that is expected of Jaehyun when there are other people around. 

"I'm way out of your league."

Sangyeon nods, or he never stopped. "Yeah."

"It's getting late."

Sangyeon finally stops nodding. He rubs his nose and stares into the dregs of his leftovers. "I'd better call a taxi and get the bill." 

Jaehyun wants to ask why but luckily Sangyeon is far away enough that it would be awkward to raise his voice. 

It isn't Sunwoo's fault, not really, but the kids have been meddling more and more lately. Jaehyun had hoped that they'd kept their irritating tendencies to him alone. But they've said enough to Sangyeon to deter him from something that might have gone well for him. 

While he's waiting, Jaehyun sends Sunwoo a text. He can't tell Hyunjun off so he doesn't and decides he will let his displeasure trickle down to Hyunjun when Sunwoo complains about being told off. But even that seems like a strange thing to be thinking of when Sangyeon returns. 

"Are you ready to go?" 

"I was just texting a friend, maybe to set up another date," Jaehyun says even though he wasn't asked. "You have to get back on the horse quickly at times like this. I advise you do the same."

Sangyeon pats down his pockets and shrugs non-committally. "Do you need a lift outside?" 

"Of course," Jaehyun says agreeably as he can. 

It isn't anything like normal but Sangyeon doesn't act like it is strange as he crouches for Jaehyun to climb onto his back. It doesn't feel strange to act like he feels ordinary too. "Am I not too heavy after eating all that food?" 

Sangyeon laughs but it is a struggle. Once they're outside in the freshness of the night, he manages to say, "I'm strong after eating good food."

He isn't but Jaehyun appreciates the opportunity to poke fun at him for no reason at all. And even if things are turning tepid with the attempt at quashing vain hopes, Jaehyun pushes his luck when the taxi pulls up and he gets in the back seat. 

"Aren't you getting in too?" Jaehyun asks before Sangyeon can close the door on him. "We might as well split the fare."

Sangyeon looks reluctant to even think about it but he gets in beside Jaehyun, doesn't let them come close enough to touching. That's fine by Jaehyun. But even if the taxi driver seems to want more stilted conversation after they reach Jaehyun's home there is a perfect opportunity to push luck a little further. 

"I'm not wearing any shoes," Jaehyun reminds Sangyeon. "You'll have to carry me. You can't let me walk through other people's piss in bare feet just to get home."

The taxi driver agrees, probably just for the excuse to talk, and folds Jaehyun's money away into his change pouch. Even if Sangyeon grumbles about Jaehyun being better off moving to a block of flats where drunkards don't piss in the stairwells he still struggles up the steps to Jaehyun's flat. 

"I'd better get going," Sangyeon says as he dawdles near the front door. 

"You need to come and help me wash my feet," Jaehyun says. It's easy. 

"Is that some sort of euphemism?" Sangyeon asks under his breath. But he says it loudly enough to be on purpose so Jaehyun replies. 

"Maybe." 

Whatever the answer means to either of them Sangyeon is drawn in and it is too easy even if they agreed they wouldn't even think of anything like this. Or Jaehyun was mistaken and they weren't saying anything like that at the restaurant. 

Jaehyun really does wash his feet because he can't stop thinking of how awful today was and having a shower can take care of that. And when he gets out of the bathroom Sangyeon is still there. And it is easy. 

Jaehyun can change him as easily as this, stripping Sangyeon down to nothing and there's no excuses like shoes or the crimes constantly being committed against fashion. He's just Sangyeon and he's not bad. He's someone reliable for the kids and he's someone with a face that settles something inside Jaehyun as easily as his voice stirs something else. 

Sangyeon holds Jaehyun tightly, like he's afraid of their promise coming true but there isn't any part of Jaehyun that can tell Sangyeon that it won't. He just focuses on the necessity of things, how he needs this to be easy, how he needs the excuse of this being convenient to avoid admitting how much he has thought about something that could ruin everything if it goes wrong. 

But Jaehyun has to believe Sangyeon will let this be easy even if Jaehyun never makes it easy for him. 


End file.
